I picked up a few packs of 2023 Stadium Club last week. It's always one of my favorite products every year with the great photography. I was also lucky enough to land a copy of the Albert Pujols card. It was one of the reasons I took a chance on opening a few packs. My expectations for this card were pretty high prior to pulling it from the pack.
Here is the front.
I like that we have a picture of Albert Pujols tipping his cap on his final Stadium Club card, but Topps already used a similar photo for his final card in the 2023 flagship set. Here is the front of that card.....
While they are different photographs, it's the same concept for both cards. Honestly, it feels like a huge letdown. Pujols is such an iconic player over the past two decades, so I am sure that there are some great photos out there that have not been overused that would have looked great on this Stadium Club baseball card.
Heck, I would even take overusing a classic Pujols photo like him staring down his 2005 NLCS home run against Brad Lidge. I do not know a single Cardinals fan who gets tired of this one......
Copyright, someone. There are so many copies of this photograph floating around on the internet that I am not sure who to credit. It's one of my favorites.
Back of the card.
Solid write-up on the part of Topps to summarize Albert's final season in the Majors. I wish the same level of effort that was used on the back of the card was also used in finding a photo for the front of this card.
Fantastic career. 703 stands out.
ReplyDeleteIt would have been cool if they had used a photo from his 700th home run rather than the hat tip.
DeleteI never realized how chubby old Albert was starting to get there at the end.
ReplyDeleteIndeed, but it did not seem to slow him down too much.
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